Shoe heater



`luly 22, 1941. R. B. HARRISON ET Al.

SHOE HEATER 4 Sheets-f-Sheet 2 Filed Jan. 4, 1939 NS D US DE CIZ [Ki 1,5 .WU -la July 22, 1941. R. B. HARRISON ETAL 2,249,750

SHOE HEATER Filed Jan. 4, 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 3j is? July 22, 1941. R. B. HARRISON ET AL SHOE HEATER Filed Jan. 4. 1939 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 E291@ hw f, s Q o y m@ o o o o d o o o o \m r o o o o v( o o o o M M o o o o k/ /el w ,.f HET SN 7 /v/ L/k f m M o 7 m a o a o 3 m I/ a, u M NN a my m n v I w. m un l 5 W J 8 Hw 7 im 0 e h M E 4 o E -J M J f [A U w @w n Patented July 22, 1941 SHOE HEATER Raymond B. Harrison and Lyman E. Alley, Dover, N. H., assignors to Beckwith Manufacturing Company, Dover, N. H., a corporation of New Hampshire Application January 4, 1939, Serial No. 249,234

12 Claims.

This invention relates to heaters for treating with moist or dry heat those parts of shoe uppers which it is customary to soften preparatory to pulling over or lasting, more particularly the toe box interleaved between the upper and lining for stiffening the toe portions of shoes.

Under modern conditions of shoemaking the manufacturer is faced with a wide range of shoe upper material having different characteristics and requiring very different treatment in the softening process to which it must be subjected. For example, many upper leathers respond best to moist heat, whereas if scotch grain leather is so treated it loses its characteristic surface configuration and the same is true in varying degrees of alligator and reptile leathers and certain fabrics. Satin loses its sheen if appreciably dampened and the characteristic Water mark disappears from moire under similar treatment.

With these conditions in mind it is an object of the present invention to provide a shoe heater designed to supply to the shoe upper hot saturated vapor, or dry heat, or any desired or graduated combination of heat and moisture all under the immediate and quickly responsive control of the operator. We have discovered that the desired results may be secured by employing a source of radiant heat in novel combination with a vaporizing receptacle in a shoe heater and that from this fundamental feature of our invention flow many other important advantages which will be pointed out hereafter.

As herein shown an electric radiant heating unit is enclosed in an air chamber which is itself placed bodily within the vaporizing receptacle with the result that, while the air chamber is closed, the entire energy of the unit is transmitted as radiant energy to the walls of the vaporizing receptacle and vapor is generated therein more efficiently and copously by far than in any shoe heaters heretofore known. In fact we have been able to secure from a 650 watt radiant heating unit employed in accordance with our invention a greater and more quickly available supply of vapor than by employing a 1,500 watt heating unit of the immersion or conduction types.

The employment of a radiant heating unit makes possible a new method of control which is more effective and more delicately responsive than any heretofore known. We have found that by venting the air chamber enclosing the heating unit we may simultaneously reduce the amount of radiant energy delivered by the unit to the water of the vaporizing receptacle and may generate by convection a current of hot dry air. If, as we propose, the hot dry current is caused to intercept or mix with the now reduced' vapor current the latter is dried most immediately and efficiently. We Wish at this point to emphasize the novel cooperative steps that are simultaneously carried out by thus venting the air chamber. With the chamber closed substantially the entire energy of the heating unit is utilized to generate vapor, whereas when the air chamber is ven-ted the energy so utilized is immediately cut down and what is taken from the vaporizing process is utilized in creating a hot air current thus doubly effective in drying the current flowing from the vaporizing receptacle. The hot air current does not merely dilute a vapor current of constant volume but becomes a constituent of a mixed volume, replacing a part of the vapor formerly generated. The hot convection currents of air cool the vaporizing receptacle and tend to insulate it from the heating unit. It will be apparent that by regulating the venting of the air chamber the most delicate control is made possible of the moisture and heat reaching the shoe parts being treated. The employment of a radiant heating unit greatly facilitates replacement and repair of the shoe heater in which it is employed, reduces road service and reducesv lost time on the part of the manufacturer. This is so because we are able to so arrange and connect the heating unit within the air chamber that it may be disconnected and replaced with no more trouble, for example, than a radio tube. Heretofore in case of unit failure it has been necessary either to return the entire heater, weighing perhaps lbs. to the factory or to send a roadman hundreds of miles to the shoe manufacturers plant and during such interval the shoe heater is, of course, of no service. In the shoe heaters employing a radiant heating unit in our novel invention replacement may be made in a few minutes by the operator or foreman without serious interruption to the progress of the Work, or even without the necessity of permitting the water in the vaporizing receptacle to cool. As an example of one satisfactory construction we may equip the radiant unit With contact pins and with a ring or other element by which the unit may be engaged and separated from its socket in the shoe heater.

The employment of a radiant heating unit in accordance with our invention, further, makes it possible to reduce greatly the weight and size of our shoe heater as compared to those heretofore available. For example, we have found it entirely practicable to fashion our heater of sheet metal and to produce a compact device weighing in the neighborhood of 20 lbs. as compared to 100 lbs. in commercial shoe heaters of the same capacity heretofore available. The advantages incident to our invention in point of shipping, packing, moving and installing will be obvious.

A minor but very desirable advantage incident to the employment of a radiant heater is that it eliminates an independable pilot light from the shoe heater and permits the substitution of a visible signal or bulls eye which is illuminated directly by the unit when energized and so gives unfailing indication of energy consumption in the device.

In producing a compact construction of shoe heater we preferably employ a sheet metal casing supporting a reservoir having a drop section extending down into the ,casing and so holding the reservoir securely against accidental dispiacement. The general design of the heater, moreover, includes provision for insulating the reservoir and so preventing the generation of steam or vapor therein which might interfere with the gravity feed of the reservoir to the vaporizing chamber.

Other features of the invention consist in adjustable projecting Visors for the shoe openings of the heater for controlling the effective depth of the openings, in a permanently connected folda'ble and adjustable shoe rest, and in a plate perforated in a novel manner to protect the insole against undue moisture which might objectionably soften it under the action of the wipers of the bed lasting machine.

These and other features of the invention will be best understood and appreciated from the following description of a preferred embodiment thereof, selected for purposes of illustration and shown in the accompanying drawings in which,

Fig. l is a view in side elevation of the heater',

Fig. 2 is a plan view,

Fig. 3 is a detailed view in section of the shoe rest mounting taken along the line 3 3 of Fig. 1,

Fig. i is a View in front elevation,

5 is a View in longitudinal section on the line 5 5 of Fig. '7,

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary view in horizontal section on the line G-S of Fig. 5,

Fig. T is a view in horizontal section on the line iwof Fig. 5,

Fig. 8 is a view in vertical cross section on the line S-S of Fig. 5,

Fig. 9 is a View in elevation of the heating unit showing parts broken away,

Fig. 1G is a view corresponding to Fig. 8 but showing aheating unit and a controlling head of modified construction,

Fig. l1 is a fragmentary horizontal section on a plane just above the upper end of the sleeve '12, and shows the heating unit of Fig. 10, and

Figs. 12, 13 and 14 are respectively views of the controlling head of Fig. l0 as seen from above, from below, and from one end.

The illustrated apparatus is generally streamline in its appearance and its lower portion oomprises a sheet metal casing I0 of rectangular contour with upstanding side walls and an open top. The walls are hanged at their lower edges to receive a bottom plate I I of asbestos or other heat insulating material. The casing is divided into front and rear compartments by a transverse partition wall I2 and between this and the front wall extends an internal bridge member I3.

lThe bridge member has a large central opening in which is permanently located a circular socket plate I4 of lava or other refractory material having therein a pair of spaced sockets which constitute the terminals of an electric circuit within the casing including the wires I5, a fuse block IB and a service switch II connected to lead wires passing outwardly through the rear wall of the casing IU. The fuse is contained within the rear compartment of the casing I and the switch Il is accessible through its left hand wall. The vforward wall of the casing Ii) is provided with perforations I which may conveniently be given the shape of letters and used to display the makers naine. The perforations I9 also serve to admit air to the interior of the casing.

A radiant heating unit 20 is designed to be supported upon the socket plate I4 and connected thereby in the electric circuit of the heater. In one satisfactory form the unit itself comprises a refractory cylindrical core of porcelain, lava, or the like having a helical groove formed in its outer cylindrical surface in which is placed a helix of wire 2I adapted to be heated to incandescence by the passage of the current. The two ends of the helix 2I are connected to terminal pins 22 which extend downwardly from opposite sides of the base of the core and are adapted to slip into the corresponding sockets of the plate I4. The core of the heating unit is hollow and it is provided internally with a ring 23 formed as a part of a downwardly extending stud 2d which protrudes through the bottom of the unit approximately midway between the terminal pins 22. The purpose of the ring 23 is to provide convenient means by which the unit may be engaged by a hooked tool passed into the upper open end of the core, when it is desired to detach and remove the unit for purposes of repair or replacement. rI'he stud 24 which is formed as a part of the ring may be arranged to enter a corresponding hole in the center of the socket plate I4 and to act as a dowel pin in positioning the unit accurately, supplementing the action of the terminal pins 22 in this respect.

In order to protect the lower portion of the heating unit 2 the bridge member I3 is provided with an upstanding ange or sleeve 25 which is spaced a substantial distance from the surface of the unit and provided in its forward edge with a notch or opening 26 located in line with a visual signal, such, for example, as the colored glass bull's-eye 21 set into the front wall of the casing Il. The arrangement is such that when the heating unit is energized suiiiciently to cause the wire helix 2i to glow the bulls-eye 21 is illuminated and the fact of current consumption is indicated. Accordingly, whenever the switch I1 is operated the bulls-eye 21 will indicate that electric current is being delivered to or that it has been cut off from the apparatus.

The vaporizing receptacle comprises a shallow rectangular tray 3D anged at its upper edge to rest upon the walls of the casing I0 and of such dimensions as to fit within the upper part of the front compartment of the casing in front of the partition I2. The tray 30 is connected to a similar tray 3| by means of a transverse pipe 32 at one end and a tie boit 33 at the other. The partition I2 is recessed to receive the pipe and bolt and the feed tray 3I is similarly anged to rest upon the walls of the casing I0 within the rear compartment thereof. At'its rear edge the tray 3I is provided with a wide fiat apron 34 which extends tothe rear wall of the casing and prevents water from being spilled into the interior thereof in case the apparatus is accidentally jostled. This avoids the danger of wetting the switch or other parts of the electrical circuit and resulting annoyances of a possible short circuit.

The vaporizing tray 30 is provided with an inner wall comprising upright cylindrical sleeve or stack 36 having a corrugated portion which extends upwardly within the body of the tray and a flange 31 which extends downwardly beneath the bottom of the tray and is arranged to fit within the upper edge of the sleeve 25 of the bridge member. The flange 3'| is provided with a notch which registers with the notch in the sleeve 25 so that light from the glowing wire 2| of the unit will be reflected through the bullseye 21. The corrugated sleeve 36 constitutes an annular boiler wall in the tray 30 of the unit and defines an open vertical air chamber, the walls of which are substantially concentric with the heating unit 20 and spaced from its surface by perhaps one-half an inch or enough to provide a substantial air space between the incandenscent helix 2| of the unit and the walls. Itwill be understood that water is maintained Within the tray 30 up to the level of the bottom of the supply pipe 52. This water surrounds the corrugated sleeve 36 and is heated therefrom by the radiant energy transmitted |by the unit 20 across the annular air space just described.

At its upper end the sleeve or stack 36 is provided with a removable distributing head or cover member 40 which is somewhat elongated and provided at its right-hand end with an outlet closed by a damper 4| having an operating handle 42 and at its left-hand end by a damper 43 having an operating handle 44. Normally both dampers are closed and the handles 42 and 44 extend in a substantially vertical direction upon the front wall of the casing I in cooperative relation to radial scales designed to indicate the position of the respective dampers or the extent of damper opening.

When it is desired to remove the heating unit 20 for any purpose the cover 4U may be detached, whereupon the operator or repair man is free to introduce a hooked tool down through the sleeve 36, engage the ring 23 within the unit, and pull the unit upwardly, thus removing it from the apparatus without disturbing any other part and without even requiring the cooling of the water in the tray 30 of the vaporizing receptacle. A fresh heating unit may now be substituted and without serious interruption of the manufacturing processes in which the heater is employed.

The rearmost tray of the unit is supplied with water maintained at a predetermined level by a large rectangular reservoir 50 having a drop section 5| in its bottom wall which is shaped to fit down into the tray 3| and so retain the reservoir against accidental displacement while the reservoir itself is supported by the walls of the casing I0. Projecting downwardly from the drop section 5| is an outlet duct 52 of adjustable length which is arranged normally to extend slightly below the level of water in the tray 3 I, maintaining it at a constant level by the well-known barometric feed principle. The reservoir has sufficient capacity to maintain the heater normally in operation for a full days work and yet it blends smoothly into the general contour of the heater without impairing the pleasing lines of its design.

The section 60 of the heater which contains the arched shoe openings 6l and 62 is also of sheet metal having a base of rectangular outline and a rearwardly curving cylindrical front wall. This section is arranged to be supported upon the walls of the casing I0 and is provided with a perforated bottom plate 63 which is located somewhat above the lower edge of its side and front walls thus forming a shallow chamber which is supplementary to the tray 30 of the vaporizing receptacle and which furnishes head room for the upper end of the sleeve or stack 36 and its cover 46. The bottom plate 63 may be perforated in any desired design to admit heated vapor into the shoe openings 6| and 62, but as herein shown it is provided with horse-shoe shaped slots 64 defining a solid central area which is normally disposed beneath the insole of the shoe being treated so as to protect the insole from the direct contact of the vapor while directing the lvapor to the upper material surrounding the margin of the insole. In manufacturing shoes of certain types, notably those having thin insoles, it has been found desirable to protect the insole against moisture which would otherwise render it limp and likely to be displaced or wrinkled by the wipers of a bed-lasting machine.

Both of the shoe openings are provided with facing strips 65 which extend slightly within the openings and serve to prevent condensation upon the roof of the openings from dripping upon the shoe. On the contrary all moisture of condensation is directed downwardly by the strips 65 along the side walls of the openings until it drops upon the bottom plate 63 where it is again vaporized or returned through the slots 64 to the tray beneath it. The roof of the openings 6| and 62 is formed in each case by an inner partition 66 spaced somewhat within the outer Wall of the section 60. The partition I2 is provided in its upper edge with a pair of studs I8 and these are arranged to pass through corresponding holes in a flange projecting rearwardly from the section Bil'and serve detachably to retain this section in place upon the casing I0. rIhe section is further provided with vents, herein shown as a series of circular holes 61, which permit circulation of air between the section 60 which is heated and the reservoir 50 which is thus insulated to some extent from the heated portions of the apparatus so that all danger of generating steam within the reservoir is avoided.

The shoe openings 6| and 62 are each provided with a detachable and adjustable vizor comprising a curved face plate 68 and a curved hood portion shaped to t within its respective opening. Each face plate 68 is provided with a curved gutter edge arranged to catch any excess condensation and prevent it from falling upon the shoe. Oppositely disposed pins 69 are secured in the section 60 and project into the sides of the shoe openings and detachably engage corresponding holes in the sides of the vizors. A knob 59 of heat insulating material is provided upon each vizor for the convenience of the operator. Each visor as a whole is sufficiently resilient to permit its two sides to be compressed and disengaged from the pins 69 when it is desired to remove the vizors from the heater. These may be arranged so that their face plates stand substantially vertical if desired or may be retracted more or less into the openings depending upon the treatment to which the shoe is to be subjected. When open, the effect of the vizors is, of course, to increase the enclosed area about the shoe being treated and thus to subject it to somewhat higher temperature, particularly at its inner or toe end.

The section 60 is provided at each side with a substantially circular socket plate 55 provided with a clamping screw 56. The socket plates are shaped to receive the sides of a bail-shaped shoe rest 5?. When the clamping screws 56 are loosened the latter may be pushed inwardly until it engages the surface of the section thus forming a compact structure of convenient shape for shipping. When the heater has been set up the shoe rest may be pulled forwardly and positioned at any desired distance from the openings 6l and 62 and may be also adjusted as to height and angle by rocking the socket plates 55 about the axis of the clamping screws 5S. When the shoe rest has been positioned for the work in hand, it may be retained in position by setting up the clamping screws 55.

The operation of the heater herein disclosed will be apparent from the foregoing description, but for convenience will be summarized as follows. Having adjusted the vizors and the shoe rest 51 for the shoes to be treated, the reservoir 5B is nlled and inverted above the tray 3l so that the water level in both trays of the vaporizing unit stands somewhat above the horizontal connecting pipe 3?. and surrounds the sleeve or stack 35 to a depth of somewhat less than an inch. Current is then supplied to the heating unit 2li by manipulating the switch l 'I and the heating unit energized. Air enters the perforations I9 and so reaches the heating chamber. So long as the dampers 4l and 43 remain closed the entire energy of the unit is transmitted laterally as radiant energy to the walls of the sleeve or stack 36. The water contained in the tray 36 is thereupon vaporized and hot moist vapor flows upwardly through the slots in the plate 63 and about the toe portion of the partially made shoe which has been presented upon its last in the opening 6i or 62. If the upper material being employed and in which the box toe material is enclosed may advantageously be treated with a copious supply of moist heat, the handles 42 and #i4 remain in their initial positions and the dampers are closed so that there is no :dow or air about the unit 29. f, on the other hand, less moisture is desirable, either one or both of the .g

heated air in contact with the unit 20 is permity ted to pass out from under the cover 40 in a transverse direction so that it enters or forms a hot, dry baile for the vapor stream rising from the vaporizing tray 3i).

An alternative construction of controlling head i or cover is illustrated in Figs. 10-14 and in Figs. l0 and 1l is illustrated also an alternative form of heating unit. The core 10 of the unit is arranged as before for connection with the socket plate I 4. It is provided also with a helix of resistance wire 7l wound in a spiral groove upon the cylindrical face of the core. The vaporizing tank 3U is provided with a metallic sleeve 'l2 which is fastened into the bottom of the tank 3U and projects upwardly in spaced concentric relation to the heating unit forming an annular boiler wall and defining a vertical air chamber. A perforated metallic radiator plate I3 is fastened to the sleeve T2 at a point somewhat above the bottom of the tank 3D and thus supplements the sleeve as a heater for the water in the tank. The metallic sleeve 12 receives directly the radiant energy of the heating unit and the radiator plate 'I3 is heated rapidly by conduction from the sleeve. It supplies a radiating body of considerable surface area which is disposed below the level of the water contained in the tank 30 and thus acts eiiiciently to heat the same. The perforations in the plate 13 facilitate circulation of the water as it is heated.

The controlling head or cover is designed to admit moisture alone, dry heat alone, or any desired mixture of the two to the shoe treating openings 6l and 62. It has a rectangular body portion 'I4 provided with upwardly diverging end walls so located as to include between them the slots 6d in the bottom of the treating chambers. From the bottom of the head resilient prongs 15 project downwardly in circular arrangement for detachably engaging the sleeve 'I2 and supporting the head thereon. Between the sides of the head is located a deflecting plate I5 having a centrally disposed transverse valley forming div-erging deecting walls which are symmetrically located above the heating unit as shown in Fig. 10. These defleoting walls merge into outwardly curved slotted outlet portions Tl and beyond these portions the delecting plate is bent into conformity with and secured to the diverging end walls of the head.

In each end of the head is located a damper plate T8 pivotally mounted in the bottom portion of the head and arranged to swing from wide open position against the end walls of the head as shown in Fig. lil to closed position beneath the inner ends of the slots in the outlet portion 'Il or" the head. To this end each damper is provided on its outer face with an elongated loop I9 and in this plays the bail portion of a transversely disposed operating handle 80. It will be understood that when either of the handles 8 is swung, the damper plate 78 is moved inwardly or outwardly beneath the slotted outlet portion ll of the deiecting plate.

When the damper plates 'i8 occupy their outermost position as shown at the right hand side of Fig. 10 the vapor formed in the tank 30 is entirely shut on from the treating chambers 6| and 62 by the end walls of the head. When either of the damper plates 'f8 is moved to its inner position, as shown on the left hand side Of Fig. 10, the slotted outlet portion 'Il is wide open and the moist vapor has a clear path to rise directly through the passages 6d into the treating chamber above it. When the operating handle 80 is moved to an intermediate position, as suggested at the left side of Figs. 12 and 13, the damper is so located that part of the slotted outlet is open for the passage of moisture and part is open for the passage of hot dry air, the proportions being regulated by the setting of the handle 80.

By reference to Figs. 8 and 10 it will be seen that in both of the illustrated embodiments of my invention the perforated plate 63 forms in the casing 60 a shallow vapor chamber or mixing chamber to which heated air and water vapor are supplied in the desired proportion and from which these mixed vapors pass through the apertures 64 into the shoe openings 6I and 62, that is, the vapor chamber is a common source of supply for the mixed and adjusted vapor passing into the shoe openings. It will be understood, of course, that while this vapor chamber is shown as serving two shoe openings only it may readily be designed to serve four or six such openings.

It will be seen by reference to Fig. 10 that the two central divergent portions of the plate 'I6 are substantially parallel respectively to the divergent end walls of the controlling head and together therewith form a pair of at divergent ducts each of which is terminated by one of the curved and slotted outlet portions 11. These outlet portions discharge only hot dry airto the treating chambers when the dampers 'I8 are in their wide open position.y When the dampers are swung inwardly vapor rising from the tank 30 is admitted through the openings in the end wallsy of the head and passes directly upwardly through the slotted outlet portions 11, emerging from the ends of the ductsi mingled with dry air determined in quantity by the setting of the dampers.

The controlling head of Figs. -14, accordingly differs from that of Fig. 8 in that it is designed positively to shut o the flow of vapor to the `treating chambers whereas the head of Fig. 8 operates to deflect and superheatthe vapor, allowing it in modified condition to reach the treating chambers.

It will be understood that many details of construction may be modiiied and changes in arrangement made within the scope of the invention for the purpose of adapting the heater of our invention to operate under different local conditions and for different types of work. For example, heating units of different design may be substituted for the specific unit herein disclosed or where it is not convenient to employ electrical heating means, we contemplate the employment of a gas burner in place of the electrical heating unit. Such a gas burner would be located beneath the vaporizing tank 30 to heat it and generate water vapor while the heat products of combustion pass upwardly through the stack 36 or 'l2 and are distributed in the mixing chamber in the manner already explained. The casing IU is shown in Fig. 1 as provided with a hole for the passage of a gas supply pipe in case the gas burner is to be used.

Having thus disclosed our invention and described preferred embodiments thereof for purposes of illustration but not at all by way of limitation, we claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent:

1. A heater of the class described including in its structure a casing having a vaporizing receptacle therein and a rearwardly curved cylindrical wall having a shoe opening therein, and a pivotally mounted visor surrounding said opening and movable outward to present a substantially vertical outer face in front of the cylindrical wall of the casing.

2. A Ishoe heater of the class described including a casing providing a shoe treating chamber, an open vaporizing tank beneath said chamber having an upstanding metallic stack therein enclosing a radiant heating unit and carrying a metallic radiating plate suspended above the bottom of said vaporizing tank, the upper end of said stack being open and in communication with said chamber.

3. A shoe heater including in its structure a casing having shoe-receiving openings arranged side-by-side therein, a shallow open vaporizing receptacle underlying said openings and having an inner tubular wall providing an open vertical chamber therein, a heating unit spaced within said wall, and means for directing heated air iiowing through said chamber and Vapor rising from said receptacle to shoes inserted in said openings.

4. A shoe heater including in its structure a casing having shoe-receiving openings arranged side-by-side therein, a wide shallow vaporizing receptacle underlying said openings and having an inner tubular wall providing an open vertical chamber therein, a heating unit spaced within said wall for heating the receptacle by radiation, means for directing heated air and vapor respectively from said chamber and directly from saidk receptacle to shoes inserted in said openings, and means for regulating the proportions of the mixture. n p

5. A shoe heater of the class described including in itsstructure a rectangular enclosure having shoe-receiving openings in one end, a vaporizing chamber extending across that end of the casing below said openings and containing a heating unit, a reservoir located behind the shoe receiving openings, a barometric feed tray located in the enclosure below the reservoir, a water duct extending substantially horizontally between said tray and said vaporizing chamber, and walls enclosing an insulating air space disposed between'the vaporizing chamber and the reservoir and the feed tray.

6. A shoe heater of the class described including in its structure a rectangular casing having a vaporizing receptacle extending across one end with an inner tubular wall forming an open chamber therein, a shoe-treating section removably mounted above said chamber, a distributing head removably carried by said tubular wall in the space beneath said shoe-treating section, and a radiant heating unit having slip connections at the bottom of said chamber and shaped to pass freely upwardly and out of said chamber in being withdrawn when the head and shoe-treating section yare removed.

7. A shoe heater of the class described including in its structure a rectangular casing in which is suspended a shallow Vaporizing receptacle provided with an inner wall forming 'an open vertically disposed chamber therein, electrical connections mounted in the casing below the open end of said chamber, a heating unit shaped so that it may be passed down through the chamber, a distributing head projecting from said inner wall above the vaporizing chamber, and a shoe-treating section shaped to enclose the projecting distributing head.

8. A shoe heater including in its structure a casing having shoe lreceiving openings disposed in spaced relation in its forward wall, an open vaporizing receptacle disposed within the casing below the shoe receiving openings and having interioi` walls enclosing a vertical chamber, a cover `disposed over said chamber and having outlet portions directed toward said shoe receiving openings, dampers controlling said outlets independently, and a source of heat disposed within said chamber. n

9. A shoe heater including in its structure a casing having a pair of shoe receiving openings arranged in side-.by-side spaced relation in its forward w-all, perforated walls bottoming said openings, a wide shallow vaporizing receptacle underlying said openings and having a tubular wall providing an open vertical chamber ydisposed to underh7 a portion of each shoe receiving opening, a deector disposed above said chamber and forming outlets from said chamber beneath the shoe-receiving openings, dampers separately controlling said outlets, and a radiant heating unit disposed in said chamber.

10. A shoe heater including in its structure a casing having shoe receiving chambers opening therein, an open vaporizing receptacle disposed within the casing beneath said chambers, a tubular wall of heat conducting material deiining a vertical chamber Within said receptacle, dampeis for opening or closing the upper end of said vertical chamber, and a radiant heating unit disposed in said vertical chamber, whereby when the dampers are closed, heat radiates laterally to vaporize liquid in said receptacle, and when said dampers are open convection currents of heated air rising through said vertical chamber partially absorb the radiated heat and tend to cool the heated vaporizing receptacle.

11. A shoe heater including in its structure a casing having shoe receiving chambers opening therein, a vaporizing receptacle disposed in the casing beneath said chambers and open thereto, circular walls dening a centrally located stack within said receptacle, a radiant heating unit detachably secured to the bottom of the casing extending into said stack and spaced from the walls thereof, a cover fitting over said stack and having laterally extending damper controlled outlet portions directed toward said shoe receiving chambers.

12. A shoe heater of the class described, which comprises a rectangular casing having shoe receiving openings in the upper portion of its forward Wall, a sheet metal vaporizing receptacle disposed in the casing beneath said openings and in communication therewith, an open ended sheet metal stack projecting through said receptacle, a radiant heating unit contained within and spaced from the Walls of said stack, a cover disposed on the upper end of said stack and having laterally extending damper controlled outlet portions, whereby the heater will radiate laterally when the damper is closed and vaporize liquid in said receptacle and convection currents of air will partially absorb the heat and tend to cool the receptacle when the dampers are open.

RAYMOND B. HARRISON. LYMAN E. ALLEY. 

